Former top officer fired for lying about sex harassment allegation against colleague

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan fired a former top police officer on Tuesday, nearly two years after he was first reprimanded for failing to report a sexual harassment complaint against former Jerusalem Police Chief Nisso Shaham and for lying about the complaint during question by Justice Ministry investigators.

The officer, Dep.-Ch Nissim Edri, was convicted in December 2013 of failing to report a sexual harassment complaint Shaham which was submitted by a female officer who served under Shaham. Later, when a Justice Ministry investigation was launched against Shaham on a series of sex crimes allegations, including sexual assault, Edri lied repeatedly to investigators over the course of four hours of questioning, saying that he was not notified of any complaint against Shaham.

At the time, Edri was sentenced to a NIS 2,000 fine and given a stern reprimand, but no further actions were taken and he was not demoted.